Typically, packaging models for organizing data are tied to the physical formats to which they directly correspond. For instance, a packing model for packaging ZIP archives is directly tied to the format of a ZIP archive so that direct correlations between the packaging model and the physical format are readily determined. However, if one wanted to instead convert the package having this format to, for instance, a network-based protocol, it would be extremely difficult to accomplish.
Accordingly, a packaging model that defines an abstraction, independent of any particular physical format, that may be mapped to a variety of different physical representations would be desirable. Additionally, a method for mapping the abstract packaging model to each of a number of physical representations would be advantageous.